AUBURN HILLS -- Just a few weeks ago, Arron Afflalo's usually stout defense was anything but that in the eyes of Detroit Pistons coach Michael Curry, who called the second-year guard out for low grades defensively in Detroit's first couple of games.

The goal was to not only raise Afflalo's awareness, but for him to also elevate his game.

Since then, Afflalo has responded with solid play, which included a slew of big plays in Detroit's 96-89 win over Cleveland on Wednesday.

Afflalo didn't enter the game until the 1:54 mark of the third quarter, but it didn't take him long to make his presence felt. He nailed a 3-pointer that tied the game at 66.

"I was open," said Afflalo, who finished with five points. "Can't not take them (open shots). As a second-year player and a player that works on his game, I'm very comfortable (taking those shots)."

And his teammates are comfortable with him despite his minutes being limited.

"He understands that he may not play a lot of minutes, but the minutes that he does get, he's going to come in and take advantage of them," Allen Iverson said. "He's come in and given us a spark at both ends of the court."

Hamilton OK with sitting
Richard Hamilton was on the bench for the entire fourth quarter Wednesday, which is rare. Him not grumbling about it is even more unusual.

"It was great," Hamilton said of not playing in the fourth. "Especially with a back-to-back. It feels good sometimes to sit and watch while the team's playing well down the stretch."

Detroit also kept Tayshaun Prince on the bench most of the fourth quarter, and instead went with Afflalo at small forward and Rodney Stuckey in Hamilton's place at shooting guard.

James for MVP?
LeBron James was runner-up last season in the league MVP race. His numbers are just as solid now, but Curry believes he's not the same player -- he's actually better.

"Which is scary," Curry said. "He's playing really good right now. Watching everybody play, he's playing better than anybody in the league through the first 10 games. I'm sure if there was MVP voting right now, he'd win, hands down."

"Every year you're in the league, on both sides of the ball, especially if you're a worker, you're going to get better," Brown said. "And he's a worker. He's gotten better on both sides of the ball every year we've been here."